Health
Alcohol deaths have more than doubled in recent years, especially among women
No amount of alcohol is good for the human body, previous research has shown — and now a new study has linked it to a rising number of deaths.
Over the course of two decades — from 1999 to 2020 — the number of alcohol-related deaths nearly doubled, according to a study from Florida Atlantic University (FAU)’s Schmidt College of Medicine.
Researchers analyzed data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER), finding that alcohol mortality rates went from 10.7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 21.6 per 100,000 in 2020.
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The biggest surge — a fourfold increase — was seen in people between the ages of 25 and 34.
The results were published in The American Journal of Medicine.
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommends no more than one drink per day for women and anyone over the age of 65, and no more than two drinks per day for men. (iStock)
“Health care providers and their patients should be aware that in the U.S. as well as most populations throughout the world, individuals who consume moderate to large amounts of alcohol have the highest risks of premature mortality and morbidity,” study author Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., a professor of medicine at the FAU Schmidt College of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.
The main causes of alcohol-related death were cardiovascular disease — primarily due to heart attacks and strokes — as well as certain “common and serious cancers” as well as cirrhosis of the liver, Hennekens said.
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“Chronic, heavy alcohol consumption is also a major contributor to hospitalizations in state facilities due to a variety of deleterious outcomes, including alcoholic cirrhosis and alcoholic dementia,” he added.
Obesity and diabetes also increased the risk of alcohol-related deaths, the study found.
What amount is harmful?
The amount of alcohol consumption can have a significant impact on mortality risk, Hennekens noted.
“The difference between drinking small and moderate to large amounts of alcohol may mean a large difference between preventing and causing premature deaths,” the researcher said. “Liver damage is an immediate effect of alcohol consumption.”
The number of alcohol-related deaths nearly doubled between 1999 and 2020, the study found. (iStock)
Dr. Ken Spielvogel, senior medical advisor for Carrara Treatment Wellness & Spa in Los Angeles, agreed that larger amounts of alcohol cause increased risks of hypertension, stroke, heart failure and other cardiac complications.
Anything more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men can have “dramatic harmful effects,” he said — especially when combined with obesity and other co-morbidities.
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommends no more than one drink per day for women and anyone over the age of 65, and no more than two drinks per day for men.
Rise in alcohol deaths among women
Although men had the highest mortality rates overall, women saw the “largest proportional rise,” according to the study findings, with deaths going from 4.8 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 in 2020.
Dr. Adam Scioli, chief medical officer at Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania, said he was not surprised by the study results.
“Women progress more rapidly to developing alcohol use disorder and its associated health consequences.”
“These findings are consistent with what we’ve been seeing clinically for the last decade – increases in severe diseases and co-morbidities related to alcohol use,” Scioli, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
This has been especially true among women, he noted.
“Liver damage is an immediate effect of alcohol consumption,” one of the researchers said. (iStock)
“We’ve seen a significant increase in women — especially those between the ages of 20 and 55 — entering treatment at Caron in liver failure and on the list for liver transplant,” the expert said.
There has been a “dramatic increase” in the consumption of alcohol among women since the 90s, according to Scioli, which was accelerated during the pandemic.
He named a number of potential drivers of that increase, including the rise of “wine culture,” the marketing of alcohol to women and the infiltration of alcohol into family spaces — all of which put women at greater risk of “significant health consequences.”
Gender differences in alcohol effects
Women and men process alcohol differently due to their biology, Scioli noted.
“Because women have less alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity – an enzyme in the stomach and liver that helps break down alcohol – women are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol on the liver, heart and brain,” the doctor said.
Women are also more likely to suffer the health impacts of alcohol use sooner than men.
“We call it the ‘telescoping’ effect, which means women progress more rapidly to develop alcohol use disorder and its associated health consequences,” Scioli said.
Women are more likely to suffer the health impacts of alcohol use sooner than men, researchers found. (iStock)
Specifically, alcohol use puts women at greater risk of cirrhosis, alcohol-related liver diseases, congestive heart failure, heart attack and stroke, he noted.
“Chronic alcohol use can also increase the risk of breast cancers and cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver and colon,” Scioli added.
Spielvogel also pointed out the rise in obesity in the U.S. across all age groups and all genders.
“The combination of an increase in alcohol consumption on top of an epidemic of obesity exposes women to higher alcohol-related mortality,” he told Fox News Digital.
Potential limitations
Experts pointed out some potential limitations of the study.
“It is an analysis of cross-sectional data,” noted Spielvogel.
“There may be bias in analyzing this mix of population in a non-prospective randomized fashion, which is the gold standard for scientific research but not possible for analyzing this data,” he went on.
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“Performing an analysis of a variety of cultures and age groups can lead to bias and inaccurate conclusions as well.”
Scioli noted that the main limitation of the study is that it is based on public health data — “which means it may actually be an under-representation of the problem.”
A call for change
Based on the findings from the study, the researchers call for “tailored interventions” to help curb alcohol-related deaths.
They also recommend additional research to help shape public health policies.
Experts call for earlier interventions to identify those in need of assessment for a potential substance use disorder. (iStock)
“To mitigate these risks, screening for alcohol use in primary care settings is essential,” Hennekens said.
Scioli agreed, calling for earlier intervention by health care professionals to identify individuals, especially women, who may have problematic drinking and refer them for assessment for a potential substance use disorder.
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“We also need to make it easier and acceptable for individuals to get the help they need,” he added.
“Finally, we need to normalize sobriety and provide greater support to people who don’t drink alcohol.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association requesting comment.
Health
Scientists May Be Able to Make Grapefruits Compatible With Medications They Currently Interfere With
You may be among the millions of people who have seen a surprisingly specific warning like this on the labels of drugs you take:
Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while using this medication.
Such warnings are issued for dozens of substances, including docetaxel, a cancer drug; erythromycin, an antibiotic; and some statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs prescribed to more than a third of American adults over 40.
The problem is a set of molecules, furanocoumarins. High levels of furanocoumarins interfere with human liver enzymes, among other processes. In their presence, medications can build up to unhealthy levels in the body. And grapefruits and some related citrus fruits are full of them.
But there is no such warning for other kinds of citrus, such as mandarins and other oranges. Citrus researchers at the Volcani Center in Israel reported Wednesday in the journal The New Phytologist that, by crossing mandarins and grapefruit, they’ve uncovered genes that produce furanocoumarins in some citrus fruits. It’s a finding that opens the possibility of creating grapefruit that doesn’t require a warning label.
Scientists had worked out the compounds’ structures and pieced together a basic flowchart of how they are made years ago, said Yoram Eyal, a professor at the Volcani Center. But the precise identities of enzymes catalyzing the process — the proteins that snip off a branch here, or add a piece there — remained mysterious. He and his colleagues knew that one way to identify them was to breed citrus high in furanocoumarins with those without. If the offspring of such a cross had varying levels of the substances, it should be possible, by digging into their genetics, to pinpoint the genes for the proteins.
“We were afraid to approach it, because it’s very time-consuming and it takes many years,” he said, noting how involved it can be to grow new trees from seeds and assess their genetics. “But finally, we decided we have to dive in.”
When they examined the offspring of a mandarin and a grapefruit, the researchers saw something remarkable. Fifty percent of the young plants had high levels of furanocourmains, and 50 percent had none. That particular signature meant something very specific, in terms of how the ability to make these substances is inherited.
“We saw there was only one gene that could have controlled it,” said Livnat Goldenberg, a Volcani Center researcher who is the lead author of the new study.
The researchers soon identified the gene controlling the production of furanocoumarins in leaves and fruit, which produces an enzyme called 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase, or 2OGD for short. Mandarins, it turns out, have a mutated form of this gene that keeps the enzyme from functioning properly. This version cropped up in all the mandarin and orange varieties the researchers checked, explaining why they do not cause the same problems as grapefruit in people taking prescription medications. In these plants, furanocoumarin production is paused.
With gene editing technology, it should be possible to alter the gene in grapefruit as well, Dr. Eyal suggests. The team at the Volcani Center is now exploring that project.
Looking at how widespread this mutated version is in mandarins and some other citrus, the scientists speculate that some gene nearby on the genome must play an important role in a highly prized trait. A long-ago citrus breeder, selecting for some unknown quality, must have unwittingly spread this furanocoumarin-busting version of the gene to an ancestor of modern varieties of mandarins and oranges.
All these years later, that person’s work is coming to light, under the gaze of geneticists, who may, someday, put grapefruit back on the menu.
Cases of tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” are on the rise in the U.S., according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Caused by the bacteria Francisella tularensis, the disease commonly infects rabbits, hares and rodents. However, it is zoonotic, which means it can spread from animals to humans.
The bacteria is a “tier-1 select agent,” a classification given to agents and toxins that “present the greatest risk of deliberate misuse with significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effects to the economy, critical infrastructure or public confidence, and pose a severe threat to public health and safety,” per the CDC.
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Although tularemia is relatively rare, with only 2,462 diagnoses between 2011 and 2022, cases have risen 56% compared to the prior decade (2001 to 2010), as reported in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Cases of tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” are on the rise in the U.S., according to a new report from the CDC. (iStock)
“Increased reporting of probable cases might be associated with an actual increase in human infection, improved tularemia detection or both,” the report states.
Millions of new cases of diabetes and heart disease every year are caused by sugary drinks, according to newly published research.
Tufts University in Boston led the study, which found that about 2.2 million new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease were attributed to sugar-sweetened sodas and juices each year, according to a press release.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine this week.
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The highest rates were found in Colombia, where 48% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary drinks, and in Mexico, where nearly a third of cases were attributed to them.
Meanwhile, in Latin America, more than 24% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary beverages, and 21% in sub-Saharan Africa, the study found.
About 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease occur each year worldwide due to consuming sugar-sweetened soda and juices, according to the findings of a new study. (iStock)
In South Africa, 27.6% of new diabetes cases and 14.6% of cardiovascular disease cases were attributed to sugary drinks.
Sugary drinks are rapidly digested, causing a spike in blood sugar levels with little nutritional value.
Sugary drinks cause blood sugar to spike because they are “rapidly digested,” the research team said.
When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages, in addition to increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, the researchers added.
Men are more likely than women to suffer the consequences of sugary drink consumption, as are younger adults compared to their older counterparts, a new study asserts. (iStock)
Professor Dariush Mozaffarian, the study’s senior author, said in a university press release, “Sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed and sold in low- and middle-income nations.”
He added, “Not only are these communities consuming harmful products, but they are also often less well-equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences.”
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Certain groups are more likely to experience negative health effects from sugary drinks, including men and younger adults, the researchers noted, as news agency SWNS also noted.
New Jersey-based registered dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade, who was not involved in the research, said the findings were to be expected, as diets rich in added sugars are more likely to increase the risk of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes.
When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, experts say. (iStock)
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major cause of added sugar in the diet and easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness,” she told Fox News Digital.
“The high calorie content and lack of satisfaction due to little protein, fat or fiber in these drinks can lead to excess calorie consumption, which can lead to weight gain — especially gains in visceral fat (belly fat), which has been found to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes,” she went on.
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness.”
Palinski-Wade pointed out that there were some limitations to the new research.
“This was an observational study, not a causation study, and shows only an association between diets containing sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes,” she noted.
“It does not prove that those drinks alone trigger an onset of type 2 diabetes.”
What needs to change?
To remedy the issue, the study authors called for a “multi-pronged approach,” including public health campaigns, regulations on advertising and taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, the release stated.
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“We need urgent, evidence-based interventions to curb consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages globally, before even more lives are shortened by their effects on diabetes and heart disease,” first author Laura Lara-Castor, now at the University of Washington, said in the release.
Approximately 65% of adults in the U.S. consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily. (iStock)
Mexico implemented a sugary drinks tax in 2014, which has shown to be effective in reducing consumption, the researchers stated.
“Much more needs to be done, especially in countries in Latin America and Africa, where consumption is high and the health consequences severe,” wrote Mozaffarian.
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“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
Many different factors are involved in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, Palinski-Wade noted.
“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
“However, reducing your intake of sugar-sweetened beverages can go a long way toward improving overall blood sugar regulation and future health.”
The new research was supported by the Gates Foundation, the American Heart Association and Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for further comment.
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